[smoothrunnings]

I am looking around for a new Android box install KODI on, can anyone suggest anything to me?

I see the newer boxes have QC CPUs and some can do 4K video. Is there any benefit to having one of those over a DC CPU box?

Thanks,

[shabuboy]

Start with the sticky threads...
Pick the Right Kodi Box (UPDATED FEB 2015)

I vote for AFTV.

[Lunatixz]

Solidruns cuboxi4

[Tinwarble]

The AFTV is a pretty good Android box.

My personal opinion is if you're not in a hurry to get something right away, I'd wait until the Razer Forge TV is released.

It will have a Snapdragon 805 SoC as opposed to the 600 in the AFTV, more storage 16GB vs 8GB and it also has 802.11ac wireless and will run Android TV. And it will be about the same price (less a remote).

Not to say it will be a better device, but on paper it is. So it would be worth waiting a little while longer to see what brings to the table.

[nickr]

IMHO the answer is: not android!

[Tinwarble]

IMHO the answer is: not android!

Yeah, but that's your answer to everything.

[nickr]

Thats because it seems to me x86 does more for not much more money. But yeah I'll shut up now LOL.

[wrxtasy]

Don't get seduced by flashing promises of bleeding edge hardware specs with Android devices.

Chances are the newer stuff will come with broken promises, and features may work correctly in a years time, if at all. But by then the hardware support will be dropped and another flashy new device promising the world will come out.

If it must be Android work out what SOC Chipsets the Openelec team support, and go with a device with that chipset that they are currently working on.

[Tinwarble]

Last time I checked openelec doesn't work in Android, so it really doesn't matter what the openelec team is working on.

No one is going to know how well Kodi is too going on any future Android device until someone buys it and installs the official Kodi apk, just like no one knew how well the AFTV would work out until it was released.

[essential]

My personal opinion is if you're not in a hurry to get something right away, I'd wait until the Razer Forge TV is released.

I have high hopes for the Forge, but I realized the other day while watching a promo video for it that it doesn't come with a media remote. I think their only remote option will be the phone/tablet app, at least for the foreseeable future. Maybe we'll be able to sync any BT remote, but we have no details yet.

[wrxtasy]

Last time I checked openelec doesn't work in Android, so it really doesn't matter what the openelec team is working on.

What I meant to say was buy an Android ARM device that has the ability to run Openelec ie like this:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/...s-t2832289

As this will then open up your options and free some of the Android video limitations.

No one is going to know how well Kodi is too going on any future Android device until someone buys it and installs the official Kodi apk, just like no one knew how well the AFTV would work out until it was released.

As a pure Kodi playback device the AFTV has limitations with interlacing, refresh rate switching and HD Audio. To say it works well for Kodi use only, especially for users in PAL TV territories is stretching the truth I would think. As an Android device however with Netflix, Amazon etc. Well then most users usually put up with those limitations just to have a single box solution.

Do I hear you volunteering to buy a bleeding edge device and troubleshoot it for the rest of the Android Kodi users ?

[FishOil]

Thats because it seems to me x86 does more for not much more money. But yeah I'll shut up now LOL.

Not much more than $39? Including a remote?

Hard to beat a basic kodi platform such as the Amazon Fire Stick for $39.

Its a no brainer for someone on a budget.

[Tinwarble]

What I meant to say was buy an Android ARM device that has the ability to run Openelec ie like this:

Yes, but then you just have a ARM/OpenELEC and it's no longer an Android device. If that's all you want, then just go pick up a RPi2.

To say it works well for Kodi use only, especially for users in PAL TV territories is stretching the truth I would think.

For those that want an actual Android device which also runs Kodi, most do not want to neuter it with just OpenELEC.

Not everyone is concerned about interlaced video or need it to work with a PAL TV, nor does everyone need HD Audio.

Everything has it's limitations, but as long as you know what the limitations are and either willing to live with them or use work-a-rounds so they don't affect you, then how much of an issue they are is subjective, as is whether you think the AFTV works well with Kodi.

Do I hear you volunteering to buy a bleeding edge device and troubleshoot it for the rest of the Android Kodi users ? Wink

Actually, yes I probably will be picking up a Forge TV when it's released. But I can say with some confidence that I'm not the only one.

Not that I need it with Chromeboxes, AFTV's/Sticks and a myriad of other devices lying around.

I have high hopes for the Forge, but I realized the other day while watching a promo video for it that it doesn't come with a media remote. I think their only remote option will be the phone/tablet app, at least for the foreseeable future. Maybe we'll be able to sync any BT remote, but we have no details yet.

It has built in BT, so any most likely any BT remote would work. Just pick up a $15 AFTV Stick remote, and it should work fine, or my personal favorite a Harmony Smart Control Hub.

[nickr]

@Tinwarble, I know I said I'd shut up, but can you tell us what you regard as the advantages of android over, say, a chromebox running openelec or ubuntu?

I can see:

cost
ability to use streaming services like netflix using native apps

What else? (No this is not a bait post, I am interested in your point of view on this).

[Tinwarble]

@Tinwarble, I know I said I'd shut up, but can you tell us what you regard as the advantages of android over, say, a chromebox running openelec or ubuntu?

I can see:

cost
ability to use streaming services like netflix using native apps

What else? (No this is not a bait post, I am interested in your point of view on this).

Well, as I said it's subjective. I can't say that there any advantages of one over the other without listing a ton of "what ifs".

What if auto refresh rate is really important
What if HD audio really matters
What if you want to watch a movie from your NAS, then go to watching House of Cards on Netflix
What if you re-encode all your videos and don't have or want an AVR.

I could go on and on but you see my point, what make an Android box (like the AFTV) better or worse than say....a Chromebox is a matter of what one needs or wants.

My point isn't to say that some one should get one or the other based on what someone may recommend based on the needs/wants of the person who is recommending a device, but on ones own needs. And no one should dismiss a device just because it doesn't fit into their on needs.

After all, I run a Chromebox (for Openelec) and a AFTV (for all Android stuff) for my main system and although I personally prefer the Chromebox, if some wants/needs an Android device I have no problems recommending the AFTV as a good device for Kodi and apps.

I think, as someone who has been watching development of Kodi since it came to Android, that anyone looking for that box that "does it all" will have to wait a little longer. At least until someone comes out a 64-bit ARM (Cortex-A53 or A57) or a x86 (not Atom) box and cooks a ROM that takes advantage of what Kodi can do, rather than the other way around.